Read the following passage carefully and answer the following questions:…
20242023
Read the following passage carefully and answer the following questions:
Organizations are institutions in which members compete for status and power. They compete for resource of the organization, for example finance to expand their own departments, for career advancement and for power to control the activities of others. In pursuit of these aims, groups are formed and sectional interests emerge. As a result, policy decisions may serve the ends of political and career systems rather than those of the concern. In this way, the goals of the organization may be displaced in favor of sectional interests and individual ambition. These preoccupations sometimes prevent the emergence of organic systems. Many of the electronic firms in the study had recently created research and development departments employing highly qualified and well paid scientists and technicians. Their high pay and expert knowledge were sometimes seen as a threat to the established order of rank, power and privilege. Many senior managers had little knowledge of technicality and possibilities of new developments and electronics. Some felt that close cooperation with the experts in an organic system would reveal their ignorance and show their experience was now redundant.
The author thinks of the senior managers as
- A.
ignorant and incompetent
- B.
a little out of step with their work environment
- C.
jealous of their younger colleagues
- D.
robbed of their rank, power and privilege
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Answer: The author thinks of the senior managers as ignorant and incompetent.
Supporting sentence from the passage:
Some felt that close cooperation with the experts in an organic system would reveal their ignorance and show their experience was now redundant.
Why this shows ignorance and incompetence:
The phrase "reveal their ignorance" directly states a lack of necessary knowledge.
The phrase "show their experience was now redundant" implies their previous experience is no longer adequate, supporting incompetence relative to new technical demands.
Why the other interpretations are incorrect:
Describing them as merely "a little out of step" is too weak; the passage indicates a serious lack of technical knowledge and fear of redundancy.
Saying they were "jealous of their younger colleagues" is not supported: the passage mentions fear of losing status and exposure of ignorance, not explicit jealousy of younger staff.
Claiming they were already "robbed of their rank, power and privilege" is incorrect: the passage describes a fear that cooperation would expose them and make their experience redundant, not that they had been deprived already.